It is known to oxidatively dehydrogenate alkanes, such as alkanes containing 2 to 6 carbon atoms (C2-6 alkanes), for example ethane or propane resulting in ethylene and propylene (C2-6 alkenes), respectively, in an oxidative dehydrogenation (oxydehydrogenation; ODH) process. Examples of alkane ODH processes, including catalysts and other process conditions, are for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,091,377, WO2003064035, US20040147393, WO2010096909 and US20100256432. Mixed metal oxide catalysts containing molybdenum (Mo), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb) and optionally tellurium (Te) as the metals, can be used as oxydehydrogenation catalysts.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an alkane ODH process, which process is performed such that a relatively high conversion, including a high productivity, of a C2-6 alkane into the corresponding C2-6 alkene is obtained.